With the familiar bread loaf silhouette, the shiny shimmery waterfall grille, the huge glass areas, and the healthy amount of chrome, there’s no mistaking what was the inspiration for the GAC M8.

The Toyota Alphard, when it was first introduced here during pre-COVID, was something of a sleeper hit. While everybody wanted luxury SUVs, here came a luxury van that was almost Lexus-like in comfort while being somewhat less conspicuous than the usual Land Cruiser or Suburban.

Politicians, POGO operators, and affluent families snapped it up like crazy, and now a current-generation Alphard fetches a cool five million bucks and change…if you can even find one for that “suggested” retail price.

And so the Chinese have thus introduced two Alphard-like vans: the first being the Hongqi HQ9, and the GAC M8. But the former carries a P5,550,000 price tag, and why anyone would choose that over the Toyota is a mystery.

The M8, on the other hand, starts at P2,998,000 for the GL, and P3,948,000 for this GX. Quite a bunch of money saved there compared to the Alphard. Both also wear the “Master” appellation, which, to be honest, is borderline cringey, but maybe this is how rich people call each other as an alternative to “boss.”

Anyway, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t get excited when this luxury minivan showed up at the house just in time for a weekend trip to Marinduque.

Getting it up the driveway was already a minor challenge as the front bumper skirt tends to scrape on steeper ramps (also something to consider when loading onto a ferry). My bigger problem was that I couldn’t decide which was better to sit in: the front or the second row.

The driver’s seat of the GX is power-adjustable 12 ways, while the shotgun seat is adjustable for four. Both are ventilated and heated, too, and it’s a treat to rapidly cool your bum and back on a sweltering day.

The second-row captain’s chairs, on the other hand, are also power-adjustable (including the ottomans), and they have this wonderful Spa function that activates a massage program. It’s not quite as intense as the Ogawa you might have at home, but it’s soothing and it quickly lulled my boys to sleep for our five-hour drive.

The coach-class third row isn’t too bad at all, offering decent room for two to three adults. The seats’ more useful function is to split-fold and move forward to make room for luggage. I was able to fit a large cooler plus multiple soft bags, a small suitcase, and a gravel bike at the back for our weekend trip.

This being the pricier variant, GAC has really dumped a bucketload of features in the van: a full ADAS suite including 360° cameras, rear cross-traffic alert, emergency lane-keeping, and adaptive cruise control with intelligent speed limiter.

There are also these features: dual power sliding doors, soundproof glass, a sectional power moonroof with a starlight decoration, a Boss Button for the front passenger seat, PM2.5 sensors, a variety of fragrances to choose from for the climate control, and enough leather and piano-black and shiny trim to make you feel like you’re in a land yacht.

Heck, the shifter even has a crystal-effect fidget spinner thingy so your right hand has something to fiddle with in traffic. I normally hold my wife’s hand when I’m driving casually, though.

Despite all of these gadgets and gewgaws, the M8 only weighs 2,192kg. That’s less than a Lynk & Co 01 I recently reviewed, or about as much as a 4×2 pickup truck. By comparison, the Hongqi HQ9 weighs a porky 2,885kg.

This may explain why—even loaded with three other passengers and luggage—the M8 acquits itself well in the kind of stop-and-go traffic and frequent bursts of overtaking you must do on the Pan-Philippine Highway.

Predictably, Eco mode was lackadaisical in throttle response and was biased toward taking the highest gear whenever possible, while Sport (or was it called Performance?) was the way to get moving in a jiffy.

The 2.0-liter turbo-four feels a tad small for a vehicle so large, so it’s best to be aggressive with the go-pedal when overtaking to make sure the transmission grabs the lowest possible gear.

Even so, there’s enough torque to get you moving along at a brisk pace on the highway without having to floor it all the time, and it’s possible to coax 10-11km/L under favorable conditions. It’s quiet, too, just a muffled roar at full throttle.

As expected, ride quality is plush without being cloud-like, avoiding that bobbing feeling at high speeds that can rob you of confidence. Predictably, the M8 erupts in understeer and body lean if you actually attack some switchbacks and forget that you’re driving a big-ass van, but I wouldn’t blame you if you occasionally did.

The steering is quite sharp and communicative, along with strong brakes. Couple that with a stiff chassis and these all make for a minivan that’s actually fun to hustle from time to time. It’s big, but not overly unwieldy.

Unfortunately for us, a typhoon cut the power to the island while we were on vacation, leading my family to sleep in the van on our last night rather than sweat to death in our Airbnb.

It was here that the kids entertained themselves playing with the different ambient lighting modes and artificial “starlight” until we finally got a few hours of sleep. Fuel economy dropped down to a theoretical 5km/L, but at least we were comfortable.

By the end of the test drive, I’ll admit to having grown quite fond of the M8 despite a few shortcomings.

One, the emergency lane-keeping was a little too paranoid, jerking the wheel if I strayed just a little too far off center. Another function whose name I can’t recall also wanted to steer the van away from other vehicles if the system felt they got too close (which is all the time on our roads). I just turned these off as soon as I figured out how to navigate the touchscreen.

The electronic rearview mirror is also more annoying than helpful. While providing near 180° vision compared to a normal mirror (and also being free of blind spots), glare on the screen makes it hard to quickly focus on what’s behind you.

You can also still see the actual reflection of vehicles behind you, thus making you see double. And even with eight speakers, the stereo sounds flat.

Finally, all of that shiny interior trim will be a pain to keep clean of dust and smudges.

At nearly P4,000,000 for the GX, it’s not for budget-conscious shoppers.

For that, GAC has the more affordable GL, which loses some of the driver aids and the soundproof glass, but keeps the second-row massage function.The GX, on the other hand, is a showcase of what GAC can do with a luxury minivan for buyers who want it all without going for a Toyota.